Remembering the power of humility to open the heart
The book, The Heart of Prayer, is an excellent book for small groups. It spurs all kinds of conversation on the various aspects of God, prayer, and matters of the heart.
The book's first part addresses many of our foundational beliefs based on scripture around God, the Trinity, prayer, and the heart. Part two focuses on matters of the heart that we can bring before God in prayer. These topics, like thanksgiving, humility, forgiveness, and trust, may sound simple, but we can spend our entire lives growing in these areas with the Lord.
It may not be surprising that these are difficult, complex areas. My main concern when writing this book was, will the reader let the Lord work on their heart? His word is sharp, and it can hurt. But God's word can both cut and heal at the same time.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart," Hebrews 4:12 (ESV).
One small group who used my workbook in their small group book study had a great discussion on chapter 12, Honesty: Open your heart through humility, repentance, and forgiveness. They debated about the following workbook question:
"Have you experienced pride in your life? Write down the areas where you struggle with pride the most. For example, have you ever been upset or annoyed if someone doubts your integrity or blames you for something you didn't do?"
The small group discussed this example. If someone were to enter a project with integrity and honesty, but another person questions that work, it can be hard not to get upset. The group acknowledged that pride, when a stumbling block to our relationship with others or God, is not right. However, some also wondered if being pleased and proud of the accomplishments of projects we work on is then a bad thing.
This scenario may sound familiar to you. One has a project or something that involves hard work; someone comes over and challenges this work, and one feels put out or attacked. All the negative thoughts that can fly through the mind about that person's response can fuel the flames of anger or frustration. So, is it wrong to take pride in our work? Where is humility found here?
We can undoubtedly have joy and a sense of accomplishment with the work we do and complete. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 says we should take pleasure in our work (my paraphrase),
"I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man."
So, a sense of accomplishment in and of itself is not wrong. The issue often is when someone comes and affronts our sense of accomplishment.
A heart of pride might rise and say, "how dare they? I did this and that". We begin to justify ourselves and our work and can take this matter personally. This type of inner dialog often leads to taking offense, being upset, self-justification, self-righteousness, etc. All of which Jesus is more than happy to listen to; in fact, he wants to. However, are these the things Jesus wants us to spend our time on? Does scripture tell us we should do these things?
If we come to this matter with a heart of humility, we might be asking different questions. We might pause and ask ourselves, is there any truth to this affront? Is the Lord trying to tell me something? If not, what is going on in this person's heart? What is this person saying (sometimes it's not about you)? What is the right way for me to respond? Should I be praying for this person? This posture removes that self-righteousness, which is a derivative of pride.
Can you see a difference in this thinking?
So, it is NOT wrong to feel accomplished in our work. However, our reactions to others' comments or opinions can often get us in trouble. But it's also true that these situations can sometimes be a gift and show us the truth in our hearts or areas God wants us to work on.
Being humble is lifelong work, and though we might feel we are doing great most of the time, it can pop up in the oddest or most unexpected places. That is why a constant prayer life with God can help us examine and remove these things from our hearts to continue our growth and closeness with the Lord and those around us.
If you struggle in this area, you are not alone; we all do! Be encouraged that God wants to heal us in these areas and help us come with the right heart to these matters. It can help us avoid unnecessary conflict and heartache.
Though humility may be a difficult topic, the hurt will heal when it's brought before the Lord, and he corrects us or prunes us. He is gentle and good. He is our healer, savior, and vinedresser who prunes the branches that would steal energy from branches that bear fruit.
Know that his discipline and correction will help us produce extraordinary results in our hearts and lives.
May you grow in humility in your journey with the Lord and be a blessing to those around you. Amen.
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